Liverpool-born doctor loses sex offence order appeal

By Martin Law

A Liverpool-born doctor who murdered a pregnant woman in Australia and drugged other female patients has lost his appeal against a sexual offences notification order imposed after he was deported.

Michael McGrane, 54, was jailed for life in 2001 for the killing four years earlier of Yuen Ling Chan, 29, at her flat in Brisbane after he was said to have injected her with a large dose of morphine.

During the course of the trial, evidence was heard that McGrane, originally from Liverpool, had drugged other female patients for a sexual motive.

Having served his sentence in Australia, proceedings were brought against McGrane on his arrival to the UK under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and an order - which requires offenders to notify police of their whereabouts and any change in their circumstances - was made in June 2013.

Following his return to Merseyside, McGrane, of Victoria Street, Southport, appealed the decision in May this year.

On Thursday, Liverpool Crown Court was told that in 2003 he went on to plead guilty to six offences of using a stupefying or overpowering drug, said to be diazepam, in order to commit indecent assaults.

He was also convicted of seven offences of indecent assault and received concurrent jail terms of eight years for the stupefying offences and 18 months for the indecent assaults, the court heard.

Earlier this month he appeared in person at Liverpool Crown Court and argued there were inaccuracies in the records produced and submitted to the court from the Australian authorities.

He told the court he accepted the convictions but denied in respect of the stupefying offences the intention had been to indecently assault his patients and did not accept he was convicted on that basis.

His appeal was dismissed and Judge David Aubrey QC handed down his judgment on Thursday in which he rejected the appellant's argument that documents presented to the court had been falsified.